Thursday, May 31, 2012

Universitas Gadjah Mada (Erwina Salsabila & Thoriq Murtadho) won the Region VII (Yogyakarta) qualifiers of the 2012 National Universities English Debating Championship, concluding the regional stage of this nationwide competition. All 12 regions now have 8 teams that they will send to the national round. From the position of Opening Government, UGM defeated cross-city rivals Universitas Islam Indonesia, Universitas Atma Jaya Yogyakarta and Universitas Ahmad Dahlan in the regional final. Besides the finalists, 4 other universities that reached the semifinals are also heading for the main tournament. They are Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta, Universitas Pembangunan Nasional and STMIK Amikom.

Seven Indonesian teams went to the 2012 United Asians Debating Championships in Malaysia. Although none of them broke into the top 16, they could create an all-Indonesian final in the English-as-Foreign-Language category. Binus International brought home the EFL trophies for best team and individual. Here are the details of their performances at Asia's most prestigious debating competition.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Jaran Walia (Binus International) in the EFL final of UADC 2012:
Binus A (+) v Binus International A (-)

Binus International outclassed older sibling Binus University to win the
English-as-Foreign-Language final of the 2012 United Asians Debating Championship. #1EFL Binus International A (Caroline Herlina, Jaran Walia, Invi Atmanegara) were too strong for #3EFL Binus A (Cassandra Etania Liem, Radite Adjie, Rivera Kathrin) in the final debate that had the classical motion "This House Supports The Use of Child Labour". Invi also topped the EFL speaker list, Caroline came second and Jaran got third, displaying the team's prominence in that category.

Last year, Universitas Bakrie won the EFL title after defeating London School of Public Relations in another all-Indonesian final. Bakrie's Ammar Syah Anwar took home the best EFL speaker prize.

Singapore's Nanyang Technological University today defeated Ateneo de Manila University from the Philippines to champion the 3rd United Asian Debating Championships and avenge the loss to the same opponent in the final two years ago.

In the 2012 grandfinal, #5 NTU A (Rohit Gadre, Rohan Jain, Swetha Balachandran) proposed "This House Believes That the International Community Should Form a Coalition of the Willing and Intervene in Syria with or without United Nations Approval" against #6 Ateneo A (Allan Cabrera, Job De Leon, Peter Poon). On a 7-2 decision, the motion passed. In the semifinals, Ateneo and NTU eliminated teams from reigning champion National University of Singapore, preventing a back-to-back victory.

The hosting of the 2013 United Asian Debating Championship followed the same fate that happened to Worlds. After De La Salle University withdrew its bid, the tournament's future is now unclear. There will be an online bidding process with hope that an institution or more will step up like what have transpired for Worlds. The deadline for such proposals is June 30 while the vote will take place on July 14. It took 5 months after WUDC Manila before a coalition Chennai schools and Thailand's Chulalongkorn University launched their WUDC 2014 bids.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Two teams from reigning champions National University of Singapore are still alive in the 2012 United Asian Debating Championships and can create an all-NUS final. In the semifinals tomorrow, #1 NUS A will face cross-city rival #5 Nanyang Technological University A while #2 NUS B will meet #6 Ateneo de Manila University A from the Philippines. UADC 2012 is taking place at Malaysia's Multimedia University. Next year's host will be De La Salle University which organized the recent Manila Worlds.

The two tertiary educational entities under the Binus corporation -- Binus University and Binus International -- have been rivals in the Indonesian debating world since the latter established its own society BIPEDS. Tomorrow the siblings will face off in the English-as-Foreign-Language final of the 2012 United Asian Debating Championships after winning their semifinal matches today.

#1EFL BIPEDS A (Caroline Herlina, Jaran Walia, Invi Atmanegara) unanimously knocked out fellow countrymen #4EFL Universitas Parahyangan while #3EFL Binus A (Cassandra Etania Liem, Radite Adjie, Rivera Kathrin) eliminated #2EFL International Christian University from Japan on a 4-1 split decision. The EFL final will take place before the penultimate debate of the open category.

Monday, May 28, 2012

Three Indonesian teams advanced into the English-as-Foreign-Language semifinals of the 2012 United Asian Debating Championships, matching last year's achievements. Binus International A (Invi Atmanegara, Caroline Herlina, Jaran Walia) topped the EFL list, Binus University A (Cassandra Etania Liem, Radite Adjie, Rivera Kathrin) broke third and Universitas Parahyangan A (Dwita Aryani, Dian Hutami, Tiola Veronica) came fourth. They will try to grab the same EFL title that Universitas Bakrie won in UADC 2011. The match-ups for the semifinals are as follows:

#1 Binus International A v #4 Universitas Parahyangan A
#2 International Christian University A (Japan) v #3 Binus University A

Reigning champion National University of Singapore broke first and second into the main elimination stage of the 2012 United Asian Debating Championships after 8 preliminary rounds. The complete break list is as follows:

1. National University of Singapore A
2. National University of Singapore B
3. Universiti Teknologi Mara B
4. University of the Philippines - Diliman A
5. Nanyang Technological University A
6. Ateneo de Manila University A
7. International Islamic University A
8. Universiti Teknologi Mara A
9. Singapore Management University A
10. Nanyang Technological University D
11. University of the Philippines - Diliman B
12. Nanyang Technological University B
13. Xavier University A
14. University of the Philippines - Manila A
15. Ateneo de Manila University C
16. Ateneo de Manila University B

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Eight preliminary rounds of the 2012 United Asian Debating Championships at Malaysia's Multimedia University ended today. The break announcement will take place later tonight. Here are the motions used so far.

R1. HEALTH
THBT those on organ transplant waiting lists should be prioritised according to lifestyle choices
THW disallow individuals below a certain income level from participating in clinical tests
THBT, in the event of life-threatening illnesses, medical decisions about children should be made by their doctors and not their parents

R3. YOUTH
THW forcefully reallocate talent and resources from all the top educational institutions to those at the bottom
THW require universities to share the burden in repaying the loans of their graduates if they are unable to find employment
THW abolish unpaid internships

R4. THIS LAND IS MY LAND
THW exempt indigenous communities from laws relating to environmental protection
THW actively and forcefully reverse transmigration policies instituted by former dictators or colonial masters
THBT tribal law should have jurisdiction over all crimes committed on tribal land, regardless of who the perpetrator is

R5.
THBT ASEAN should have a defense pact stipulating that any attempt by China to occupy the South China Sea islands will be met with military force
THW ban the use of unmanned combat vehicles (drones) in combat operations
THBT the US should adopt a policy that in the event Israel launches any attack on Iran, the US will withdraw all military support to it

R6. WOMEN
THBT liberal states with sexually conservative communities should subsidize hymen reconstruction surgery
THBT the feminist movement should condemn celebrities like Rihanna who choose to continue to pursue a personal relationship with abusive partners
THBT the French government should repeal the ban on the burqa

R7. WE ARE FAMILY
THW legalize polygamy
THBT state welfare should only support families up to a certain size
THBT liberals have a moral duty to abstain from marriage until gay marriage is legalized

R8. RELIGION
THBT religions should be held liable for making curative claims on illnesses if an individual refuses to seek life-saving medical treatment
THW ban proselytizing in prisons
THW ban gay conversion therapy

Saturday, May 26, 2012

#3 Binus University (Rosmiyana & Sabarudin Adinugroho) overcame favorites #1 Universitas Indonesia (Dimas Hokka & Riza Aryani) in the final of the 2012 National Universities English Debating Championship's Region III (Greater Jakarta) qualifiers. Until the final, the UI team came first in every single match in this regional selection, including a preliminary round where they defeated Binus.

The other finalists were host #2 Universitas Bakrie (Aryo Febrian & Mutiara Hapsari) and dark horse #8 Universitas Paramadina (Siti Octrina Malikah & Niken Anjar Wulan). All 4 teams are eligible to go to the national rounds next month. Besides them, 4 other universities that reached the semifinals are also heading for the main tournament. They are #4 Universitas Negeri Jakarta, #5 Institut Pertanian Bogor, #6 Universitas Atma Jaya and #10 Universitas Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa. Region III is considered the toughest of the 12 NUEDC divisions. Three of the 4 national round finalists last year came from this region.

Friday, May 25, 2012

The first round of the 2012 United Asian Debating Championships kicked off today in Malaysia at the same time with the start of Region III (Greater Jakarta) qualifiers of the 2012 National University English Debating Championships. Binus University and Institut Pertanian Bogor have teams in both events. Universitas Bakrie, the host of the latter competition, won the EFL section of the 2011 UADC but has decided to skip this year's edition, which will only end on May 29.

Region III is considered as the toughest of the 12 NUEDC regions. Three out of 4 finalists of the national round last year - Binus, Bakrie and Universitas Indonesia - came from this group. All 3 schools are fielding strong teams this year that include Australasians ESL champs (UI) and IVED winners (Bakrie). Like other regions, the top 8 in the qualifiers are eligible to proceed to the main tournament next month. A school is only allowed to register one pair for the regionals, which cannot change if they make it to the nationals.

R5. THBT the rights to raise children should be allocated by license
QF. THBT donor countries of the World Bank should have a consensus to nominate only persons from the developing nations to the presidency
SF. THBT ASEAN should enforce moratorium on hiring migrant domestic workers
GF. TH regrets the decline of American supremacy and the advent of a multipolar world

Sunday, May 20, 2012

What the Universitas Indonesia debaters achieved in the 2012 National Newbie Debating Competition is nothing short from total domination. They did not only win the competition but took home all of the top 3 team and individual awards. Three UI teams stormed into the grandfinal and left the other pair from Universitas Negeri Sebelas Maret at the last place in that debate.

#1 UI C (Agita Nalsalia & Florida Petresia Andriana) reigned supreme with #8 UI B (Andrearto Saleh & Kevin Wijaya) and #3 UI A (Muhammad Iqbal & Rio Trimono) coming second and third. #6 UNS (Juli Novianto & Liswindio Apendicaesar) exited at fourth in the final debate that had a topic on the decline of American influence. Agita Nalsalia also became the best speaker of the tournament with teammate Florida Petresia Andriana following right after her. The third individual place was shared by Muhammad Iqbal, Rio Trimono, UNS' Liswindio Apendicaesar and Universitas Islam Indonesia debater Putri Nurdina.

All debaters in the competition were novices, defined as those who have less than 2 years of varsity debating experience and no record of breaking in any national English debating event.

Universitas Indonesia's Roderick Sibarani, the 2011 Debater of the Year, and the current leader of the 2012 list, Rifan Ibnu Rahman from Institut Teknologi Bandung, paired up as Team "I Do" and championed the inaugural Jakarta Mini open tournament at Binus University. In the grand final, they defeated Binus International 1 (Invi Atmanegara & Jaran Walia), an UI team that called themselves "Manly Canisians" (Boby Andika & Albert Santoso) and a composite team "Kupu-Kupu Malam" (Astri Agustina/UGM & Bramesada Prasastyoga/UI). Boby Andika took home the best speaker award.

It was a night of victory for UI, the university with the most debating achievements in the country. At the same time with the Jakarta Mini announcements, UI novice debaters swept the top team and individual awards in the 2012 National Newbie Debating Competition in Yogyakarta. Earlier this month, an UI team also triumphed in the ALSA UI E-Comp, the longest-running debate tournament in Indonesia.

The grandfinal of the 2012 National Newbie Debating Competition at Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta will be between 3 Universitas Indonesia teams and a pair from Universitas Negeri Sebelas Maret. #1 UI C (Agita Nalsalia & Florida Petresia Andriana), #3 UI A (Muhammad Iqbal & Rio Trimono), #8 (Andrearto Saleh & Kevin Wijaya) convincingly outclassed their opponents from Day 1. However, #6 UNS (Juli Novianto & Liswindio Apendicaesar) can still pull an upset. The final of this British Parliamentary style tournament will take place this evening.

Three Universitas Indonesia teams advanced to the semifinals of the 2012 National Newbie Debating Competition after the quarterfinals that debated the World Bank presidency. No other school has multiple representations in the final eight. The grand finals will take place later today. The match ups are as follows:

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Debating powerhouse Universitas Indonesia and host Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta each have 3 teams in the knockout stage of the 2012 National Newbie Debating Competition. All 3 elimination rounds will take place tomorrow. Here are the 16 teams that advanced into the quarterfinals of this novice-only British Parliamentary style tournament.

One-third of the 84 teams that got into the first main list of the 2012 Asian British Parliamentary Debating Championship come from the host country Indonesia. This is a record showing after previously the number of Indonesian teams that participate in ABP year after year can be counted with one hand. Eleven countries are represented in the roster but there is no team from the Philippines, an Asian debating powerhouse. Nevertheless, the list still looks competitive as all of the 4 universities that reached the grandfinals of ABP 2011 have won slots, including reigning champion Rashtriya Vidyalaya College of Engineering and the formidable National University of Singapore. On the waiting list, there are 2 Filipino schools. Those on the first main list have until June 16 to pay up or they will lose their spots. ABP 2012, organized by Binus International, will take place in Jakarta from October 22 to 28.

Friday, May 18, 2012

Two debating tournaments using the British Parliamentary format with contrasting levels of experience are scheduled to start today on the main island of Java. The National Newbies Debating Championships will begin in the afternoon at Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta with 36 novice teams. In the capital, the Jakarta Mini, an open tournament that allows composites, is already underway since this morning at Binus University with a smaller number of participants but promising a higher quality of debating. Its roster includes past champions of Indonesia's 3 classics - IVED, JOVED and ALSA UI. Grand finals of both competitions will take place on Sunday.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Encouraged by its inaugural edition last year, the first BP style contest in eastern Indonesia, the Hasanuddin University British Parliamentary Debating Championships, will run again in Makassar this year from June 18 to 21. Registration, opened on May 12, will close at the end of this month. The tournament is open for all levels and composites from all over the country with a team cap set at 60. Debates will only start on May 20. The first two days of the event will be allocated for a special debate seminar for the 2012 Java Overland Varsities English Debate featuring the major competition's adjudication core and judges from western Indonesia.

Universitas Parahyangan (Dwita Aryani & Josefhine Chitra) yesterday prevailed over former champion Institut Teknologi Bandung to win the Region IV (West Java) qualifying round of the 2012 National Universities English Debating Championship. While the qualifiers took place in Cirebon, the final four all came from provincial capital Bandung. The other finalists were Universitas Padjadjaran and Institut Manajemen Telkom. Region IV is one of the toughest among the 12 groups. ITB won NUEDC 2009 and reached the finals of last year's national round.

On the same day, Universitas Hasanuddin (M. Akbar Walenna & Framita Rahman) topped Region IX (Sulawesi). Each of the 12 regions is entitled to send 8 teams to the national round so all regional semifinalists qualify for the main stage. A school is only allowed to register one pair for the regionals, which cannot change if they make it to the nationals. The roster for the national round is beginning to shape up. Two strong regions, III (Greater Jakarta) and VII (Yogyakarta), will hold theirs late May. The regions mimic the geographical divisions of private universities in Indonesia. The bureaucratic unit that administers each division is known as Kopertis.

Monday, May 14, 2012

One thing is clear - the 2014 World Universities Debating Championships will take place in Asia. Nobody could file a proposal last January during WUDC 2012 in Manila when the host in two years time should have been decided. But now, there are two excellent options that have been floating since the beginning of May, both from Asian countries. Chulalongkorn University from Thailand seeks to bring back the championships to Bangkok, host of WUDC 2008, while another bid will come from Rajalakhsmi Engineering College, which is based near the southern Indian city of Chennai.

Chulalongkorn University

Both bids are supported by award-winning debaters. The Bangkok bid has Li Sheng Wu, the Stanford debater who won the best speaker award in WUDC 2010 when he was still studying in Oxford, and WUDC 2012 champion Amit Golder on its side. Meanwhile, Chennai's camp boasts Harish Natarajan, who debated for Cambridge when he reached the finals of Euro 2009 and 2010. Both proposals must be submitted by May 20. Until June 3, bidders should entertain questions from all around the world. National representatives should vote from June 4 to 7, 2012.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

The organizers of the 2012 Java Overland Varsities English Debate announced 34 teams have secured their slots in this year's edition of the most prestigious Asian-style debating competition in Indonesia. Meanwhile 20 others failed to pay up and now must wait until the second phase ends on May 22. Until that date, those who have been promoted from the waiting list, including reigning champion Universitas Diponegoro, can take the available spots.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Binus University will run its second tournament of the year in less than two weeks. While last February's Asian English Olympics was a competition for high school and college students only, the May 18-20 Jakarta Mini is open for all who want to debate in this British Parliamentary-style contest. Composites are also allowed as long as they can meet the N1 adjudicator requirement. The first phase of registration ends tomorrow while the second round will start May 13 until one day before the event. Click this to see the official announcement for more details.

Friday, May 4, 2012

Universitas Diponegoro (Edward Sutanto & Rizky Akita) and Universitas Negeri Malang (Nadiyah & Umar Pradhani) yesterday not only took home a ticket to the 2012 National Universities English Debating Championships next month but also the best team title of their respective regions. Undip won the Region VI (Central Java) qualifiers while UM topped Region VII (East Java). Each of the 12 regions is entitled to send 8 teams to the national round so all regional semifinalists qualify for the main stage. A school is only allowed to register one pair for the regionals, which cannot change if they make it to the nationals.

Some regions completed their selections last month. Universitas Muhammadiyah Sumatera Utara and Universitas Palangkaraya came first in Region I (North Sumatra & Aceh) and Region XI (Kalimantan) respectively. The rest are scheduled to finish theirs before the end of May. The regions where last year's finalists came, Region III (Greater Jakarta) and Region IV (West Java), will hold their qualifiers on May 14-16. The regions mimic the geographical divisions of private universities in Indonesia. The bureaucratic unit that administers each division is known as Kopertis.

Dennys Kapa, who was part of last year's winning UI team, provided another record for the books through last night's achievement as he became the first person to win two consecutive ALSA UI varsity titles since the competition used an internationally accepted style in 1998. Prior to that, there were others who achieved that feat when ALSA UI E-Comp used an independent, shorter 3-on-3 format. Dennys' accomplishment was better than the previous ones because he did it in his second year.

In the university finals, #4 EDS UI A (Aulia Anggita Larasati, Albert Santoso, Dennnys Kapa) defeated #2 Universitas Gadjah Mada A (Cinantyan Punjung, Nabila Aghniarizqa, Thoriq Murtadho). This is UI's first trophy in 2012. It is still the Indonesian university with the biggest silverware collection by far. UI teams won every single ALSA UI E-Comp until 2007 when an UGM team broke that streak. Only two other non-UI teams have championed the tournament since then.

In high school category, the winning institution had been found before the final when SMA 4 Denpasar teams won their semifinal matches. In the last debate, #2 SMA Denpasar A (Carissa Tehputri, Mulyawati Moeliono, Ida Ayu Pradnya Paramita) bested schoolmates #1 SMA Denpasar B (Alana Deborah, I Gede Bagus Gloria, Annyssa Rizki). Denpasar's Carissa also took home the best speaker award. In the varsity section, Muhammad Pandu from Institut Teknologi Bandung A topped the individual tab.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

The two universities with the most debating trophies in the country, reigning champion Universitas Indonesia and 2007 winner Universitas Gadjah Mada, will face off in the final of the 2012 ALSA UI E-Competition. #4 UI A (Aulia Anggita Larasati, Albert Santoso, Dennys Kapa) defeated #1 Institut Teknologi Bandung A (Muhammad Pandu, Jane Revevalin, Vicario Reinaldo) in a semifinal match where sophomore Aulia got the better of her former high school coach Pandu, a sixth year student. In the other semi, #2 UGM A (Cinantyan Punjung, Nabila Aghniarizqa, Thoriq Murtadho) eliminated #6 Universitas Bakrie A (Aryo Febrian, Leliana Anggraini, Andrew Prasatya).

Dennys Kapa was part of the UI team that won last year. If Dennys repeats that feat today, he will be the only debater with two consecutive ALSA UI E-Comp titles since the competition used an internationally accepted style in 1998. The tournament employed a self-made 3-on-3 format before the reforms.

SMA 4 Denpasar is the high school with the best debate program in Indonesia without a doubt. The Bali school did not only secure all spots in the final of the 2012 ALSA UI E-Competition after two of its teams won their semifinals this morning. It defended the championship title even before the penultimate debate of the tournament. On top of that, the finalist debaters are totally different than last year's champions, showcasing the school's depth and regeneration.

#1 SMA Denpasar B (Alana Deborah, I Gede Bagus Gloria, Annyssa Rizki) defeated #4 SMA Tarakanita 2 from Jakarta while #2 SMA 4 Denpasar A (Carissa Tehputri, Mulyawati Moeliono, Ida Ayu Pradnya Paramita) knocked out #3 SMA 3 Semarang. The Bali domination may likely continue when the top speakers are announced after the final. ALSA UI E-Comp is the most prestigious school-based debating competition in Indonesia. No school has dominated the competition like this before.